“I felt a sudden drop in my belly, my water finally broke, and I knew I wasn’t going to make it. In a knee-length fluffy pink bathrobe and white underwear, I put on a huge, long, overnight pad. I waddled down the stairs, as best I could, to the car. ‘We’ll never make it.'”
‘I screamed, ‘PULL OVER!’ My expectations did NOT match reality.’: New mom hilariously recounts birth of daughter on highway, ‘I’m prepared to catch another baby’
‘Baby’s here! He’s coming!’ I looked down and saw our son’s head.’: Trans woman describes surprise home birth, ’We might not be the typical nuclear family, but our love is strong’
“Before I came out, Shannon and I decided to try for another baby. I got approved by the Marine Corps to begin my transition and started hormone therapy. Soon after, we announced we were pregnant. At 2 a.m., Shannon and I were getting ready to have our baby. We thought we had plenty of time. I walked into the bathroom and noticed blood in the water. She told me, ‘We aren’t going anywhere. Call 911.’ One push later, our baby slid into my arms. We were all smiles and shellshock.”
‘Everyone poops during labor,’ she warned. It was my first time. I couldn’t stop asking questions. ‘Is it normal my water hasn’t broken yet?’ ‘Should I push? When do I push?’
“My questions didn’t stop there. ‘Is the baby okay?’ He was covered in white slime. ‘Should he be that color?’ I felt so completely unprepared. These women never looked at me and said, ‘That isn’t my job.’ That is a hero.”
‘I was head over heels for a man with ‘a past.’ We were an on-and-off again couple, and I thought sex would fix what was broken. I gave in.’: Young ‘sterile’ woman gets pregnant with ‘wrong man’, re-discovers love
“This decision didn’t fix anything. Instead, it all came crashing down. When he moved and we agreed to no longer see each other, I found out I was pregnant. I was completely in shock. I was told I would not be able to have children naturally. But there I was, alone, scared, unwed, and pregnant.”
‘I love inspecting the vessels in umbilical cords. My awe never ceases over how our bodies are so intricately woven in the womb. I love to share my excitement over what others consider ‘gross.’
“A lot of people think it’s just a ‘tube’ of sorts transporting nutrients to their baby. But…it’s so much more intricately designed than that!”
